":" Custom Format Specifier in LightSwitch 2012

This article explains how to use the ":" Custom Format Specifier in LightSwitch Visual Studio 2012.

":" Custom Format Specifier

The ":" Custom Format Specifier provides a separator between hours, minutes and seconds. The time separator is received from the DateTimeFormatInfo.TimeSeparator property.

Note: If the ":" format specifier is used without any custom format specifier then it is considered to be a Standard Date Time Format Specifier and it will result in a Format Exception.

Use the following procedure to create a sample sample of using the ":" Custom Format Specifier on a Screen.

Step 1

Open the LightSwitch Application in Visual Studio 2012 and go to the Solution Explorer.



Right-click on "Data Sources" and choose "Add Table".



The table appears in the Table Designer window. Insert the records in the following table.



Step 2

Now once again go to the Solution Explorer, right-click on "Screens" and choose "Add Screen".



The Add New Screen dialog box appears. Select "Editable Grid Screen" from the Screen Template, inside the screen information, choose "Employee" under the screen data and provide a name to the Screen and click the "OK" button.



The Screen Designer appears as shown below.



Press F5 to run the application. Provide the information; we will get the following output:



Step 3

Now stop debugging the application. From the Table Designer select the "DOB" record as shown in the figure below.



Then go to the Format Pattern of the Property window in the Table Designer and enter "hh:mm" in the format pattern property as shown below.



Once again press F5 to run the application. This time we will get the following output.



Step 4

Once again stop debugging the application and select the "DOB" record from the table and then go to the Format Pattern of Property window in the Table Designer and this time enter "mm:ss" in the format pattern property as shown below.



Once again press F5 to run the application. This time we will get the following output.